Seeking Advice About a Infant with Pneumonia

Hi T.,

My 4year old son also had pneumonia as and infant and a few more times after that. At times he got pneumonia without having a cold or runny nose.

If your baby seems lethargic, dark circles around the eyes, unusually sleepy or an unexplained fever - get her checked ASAP.

Good Luck - hopefully she will outgrow it.

You want to watch her color. If she has blue around her lips go to the er. Other than that I would watch her breathing effort. If the dip at the bottom of her throat retracts with the breathing or if she sucks up under her ribs when breathing, got to er. You don't want a 3 months old working to hard to breath. I beleive she should breath under 60 bpm. I would have on a warm air vaporizer at all times, and ask about breathin treatments.

H.

HI. My name is K. and I am a mother of 3 and a nurse.
You need to monitor her breathing, how fast she is breathing. If it seems like she is breathing alot faster than her normal or if it seems like she is having trouble breathing, you should take her into you doctor. For example,if her nose is flaring out when she breathes, or you see retractions on her ribs when she breathes( it looks like her skin is being pulled through her ribs). Also if she is getting really fussy for no reason. Are you giving her breathing treatments or antibiotics?? Those can be a factor in the fussiness as well. But as long as she is eating and breathing normally, you should be fine. My oldest son had a lot of problems with his lungs when he was young, not pnuemonia but recurrent bronciolitis. It was difficult for me as well. But as long as you watch how she is breathing and make sure she is eating well, I am sure things will be fine. Feel free to ask me questions anytime. If I cannot answer them myself I have a lot of resources and am sure I can help.
Hope this helps

I am sure about signs of pneumonia, but I can tell what signs to look for about her oxygen level. My son started having breathing problems about 3 months old. Two major signs, if you push on her sign, the white should change back to pink fairly quickly, and second, her skin should look pink. That's how I noticed my son's problem starting. His skin kind looked a little grayish. At the ER his oxygen level was low 90's. In any case, pneumonia has to do with fluid in the lungs etc. I would suggestion making sure she is breathing well and her color stays pink - oh and of course any fever over 104!

wow. I would be concerned with any type of illness, certainly pneumonia... My daughter goes to a holistic doctor, but I would suggest going to a doctor definitely. I suggest holistic and if your in the area, Dr. Elisa Song in Belmont is the best doctor [pediatrician] I have found! She is an MD and into alternative therapies like homeopathy which arent as aggressive as western medicine especially for children. Her phone # is 650.595.KIDS [5437] Shes a bit pricey, but soo worth every penny. Tthis is not an ad for her btw... just my experience.

My son had pneumonia at 3 months. If her stomach pushes out while she's breathing or it looks like she's having a hard time take her to the doctor or to the ER. WHen they can't breathe you'll be able to see it. They can't cry very well and sometimes not at all. They won't want to eat cuz they won't be able to get enough air through their little noses. Look for those kinds of things with pneumonia and when it's getting worse.

Hi T.. Don't let those nurses give you the run around. Any competent doctor would want to schedule an appointment if you have any doubt that your newborn has something more than a simple cold.

When you call in your doctor will want to know your baby's temperature, what kind of discharge if any is coming from eyes, nose, mouth (with coughs/spit up), and how labored your child's breathing is. They will especially want to know if there seems to be chest congestion. Yes blue lips or finger tips is a sign of pneumonia, but things don't have to get to this point for the situation to be risky for a 3 month old.

Remember that even if your baby doesn't have pneumonia, there may be bronchitis, sinus infection, or ear infection. Better to get into the doctor and have it looked at.

With such little ones, better safe than sorry. No newborn was ever harmed by the parents taking them in to the doctor unnecessarily. And if the receptionist/nurse doesn't like it, too bad for her!

You can find more pneumonia info here:

http://www.kidshealth.org/PageManager.jsp?dn=poehealth&am...

Hello T.,

When my preemie twin girls were born in 2005 and two weeks after they had their stay in the NICU when they came home, my Mom and I too were concerned about their breathing. They seemed to always have stuffy noses and my twins ped always said this is normal for new babies, even preemies...

It scared my Mom and me, but once they reached 6 months, their stuffy noses went away.

Hope this helps you T.,
M. in Tracy, CA

Hi, I would be very careful with your baby at this age and what the doctors are telling you. When my twins were 3 months old, they got very sick, with congestion, vomitting, fever, all signs of most infections. They seem to always get worse at night which was after doctor hours. So I was constantly taking them to emergency. Every time, they sent us home, saying it was bronchilatious, pneumonia, and so forth. They would prescribed antibiotics and send them home. I even requested they admit them. Yet they kept sending them back home. Every day for a week I took them in to the hospital. Finally on friday morning, there eyes were rolling back and they were too sick to even cry. I rushed them into their primary doctor and she took one look at them and admitted them to the hospital saying they had a very serious infection which was RSV. A respitory infection. She mentioned if I would have waited one more day, it would have been a different outcome. They had such thick mucus in their lungs which was only getting worse. They were hospitalized for a week and took over a year to recover. I was soo upset that they were continually misdiagnosed and if it wasnt for my priamry dr. I could have lost both of them. Point being, anytime if comes to your baby having trouble breathing, with any kind of infection, be diligent about making sure she is properly diagnosed. DOnt feel bad about pushing the doctors or nurses and asking more questions, it is your child and in the end you might be grateful you asked more. After she has been properly diagnosed, something that helps my twins with congestion and trouble breathing, is a warm humidifier. It really works wonders. I put it on at night and shut their door to keep the steam in. I have one that uses vicks medicine it releases in the air and its really great. It really helps them a lot, and get a good night sleep, which helps in the healing process of any sickness. I actually use my humidifer anytime they get the slightest congestion, it clears them up and prevents it form getting worse. I know how hard it is when the most important ones to us are sick. I hope this help and if you have any more question feel free to ask.

check her chest and if the skin in between the ribs moves in and out with each breath(really gets sucked in) call the dr or just take her in to be seen. antoher thing to check for is the flaring of her notrils or grunting noises with either of these she also needs to be seen. if the nurses are that unhelpful find a doctor with more concerned nurses( i had to do that). also if she i breathing really fast(more than 60 breaths per minute, count them, then that is another sign of troubled breathing. any one of these appear and i would take her in.

Hi Tiffany. My son was born with pneumonia due to him being deivered 32 hours after my water broke. When he would breath, it almost looked like his tummy was doing all the work- his chest wouldn't move nearly as much. I was still being sewn up so I didn't actually see any of this, but my ex said that you could really see that he was working really hard for each breath. If your daughter's breathing is labored at all or if you hear any wheezing or congestion in her chest take her to the doctor. Even if it is just a cold it is better to be safe and catch it before it becomes anything more serious.

Hi T.. My boyfriend had a son named Kyle. His mother wasn't a very good mother, and the baby got pneumonia. She refused to take him to the doctor. My boyfriend's mother went to pick the baby up so Joe could have one of his visitations (they were going through a custody battle at the time), and the mother went in to get him. She came back out screaming and the Melva went in to see what the hell was going on and the baby was dead. She had propped a bottle in his mouth and left him in the bedroom were a swamp cooler was going. The doctors said he died because he choked on the fluid in his lungs. He was three months old when he died.
I'm not trying to scare you. I just want to let you know that we have experince in this area. Pneumonia can be scary if the baby doesn't get the right medical treatment. I believe that if your child has pneumonia, the best thing to do is go to the doctors. Have her carefully examined, and start giving her antibiotics. Your rewuest doesn't say wether or not you took her yet. If she is being examined by a doctor already, just keep giving her medicine, and trust time and the doctor. If something happens that makes you nervous (change in breathing patterns, choking, coughing fits that won't stop, etc.) you need to take her to the emergency room ASAP.
Good luck with this, and I hope your little girl gets better soon. Best Wishes, T.

sorry to hear the baby is sick.:(. u should keep a close eye out on her & listen for any weezing when she is breathing.if she is trying to cough a lot too.her airway isn't fully opened and she may need to get a breathing treatment to clear her up. i had to do this w 2 of my girls.its a little machine they give you and these vapors come out which is the med. they breath in. they have a cute mask to put on them or u can hold it up to their face.u will probally have to do it 3 times a day but i reccomend u do it as often as they tell u and for how long they tell u .sometimes u think oh i dont hear her weezing she does't need it anymore. then it will come right back soon after.the machine is loud so i always put a pillow over it before i turn it on.

Hi, I know of a mom who also thought that her son had pneumonia. She kept taking him into the doctors and finally found a doctor who diagnosed him with asthma. He started treatment and within a week, this baby was doing so much better. He went from a listless, quiet baby, to a happy, mobile baby. It is such a great change. Maybe ask your doctor next time about this. Maybe it is something that he has overlooked and you just need to be proactive. Good luck!